Costa Rica Gathering 2025: Honoring 30 Years and Building ACT’s Future
From October 20 to October 22, 2025, ACT members from the USA, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, and the Guianas gathered in Costa Rica for a transformative event. Joined by board members, donors, guests, and Indigenous partners — María del Rosario “Charito” Chicunque, Pablo Chindoy, and Marinete Tukano — the gathering focused on strategic conversations to align ACT around its next chapter while…
Read MoreOne Health, Indigenous Knowledge, and Climate Action at COP30
Written by: Barbara Onkle What is One Health The term One Health, translated as “One Single Health” or “Unified Health,” was formally adopted globally after the “One World, One Health” symposium held in 2004 in New York. Since then, international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the…
Read MoreA People Who Resist Collectively: The Gathering of the Wai Wai
Text by Méle Dornelas · Available in Portuguese. The Wai Wai are an Indigenous people who live across portions of the Guianas (Guyana and Suriname) and northern Brazil, especially in the south of Brazil’s Roraima state. Informal records link their name, which derives from the Karib language family, to the armadillo. The armadillo may be…
Read MoreFrom Bogotá to Belém: What’s at stake for the future of the Amazon
Carolina Gil, Regional Director of the Amazon Conservation Team Colombia authored this op-ed, published August 27, 2025 in El Espectador, a daily newspaper in Colombia. OPINION | “Today it is clear: the environmental agenda is the political agenda. What happens in the Amazon will define not only the climatic future, but also the stability of…
Read MoreHow to protect isolated Indigenous peoples without harmful contact
Guardians of the Forest: Who are isolated Indigenous peoples? In some of the most pristine and remote forests of the Amazon live Indigenous peoples who have little to no contact with the outside world. They have no cellphones, cars, or computers, but they hold deep knowledge of the forest and an interconnected relationship with the…
Read MoreIndigenous Women March for Territories and Life
Text by Méle Dornelas · Available in Portuguese. In August 2025, more than five thousand Indigenous women occupied Brasília, Brazil’s capital city, to advocate for their rights at the 4th Indigenous Women’s March. The mobilization culminated in the development of proposals for a National Policy Plan for Indigenous Women. From August 3 to 7, 2025,…
Read MoreWithout Territory, There Is No Climate Justice for the Kokama People
Text by Méle Dornelas · Available in Portuguese. The 7th Assembly of the Kokama People focused on land rights, education, health, and the preservation of language and traditional knowledge within the broader context of the climate crisis. Held in Amaturá, in the state of Amazonas, from July 8–11, the 7th General Assembly of the Kokama…
Read MoreSem território, não há justiça climática para o povo Kokama
A 7ª Assembleia do povo Kokama debateu demarcação, educação, saúde e valorização da língua e dos saberes tradicionais dentro do contexto da crise climática. Realizada em Amaturá, no estado do Amazonas, entre os dias 8 e 11 de julho, a 7ª Assembleia Geral dos Movimentos do Povo Kokama foi um importante marco na luta indígena…
Read MoreIndigenous Medicine Webinar: Five Takeaways from ACT-Brasil’s “Paths of Healing” Seminar
Written by: Barbara Onkle In a recent webinar, ACT-Brasil spotlighted the vital role of Indigenous medicine in today’s world. From scientific recognition to intercultural healthcare solutions, the “Paths of Healing” conversation explored how ancestral knowledge can and should transform public health practice and policy—and why investing in it is essential for people and the planet. …
Read MoreA Return to Ulupuwene: Indigenous-Led Conservation in Brazil
Ulupuwene, within the Batovi Indigenous Territory of Brazil, has a special place in the heart of ACT. It is a small community of courageous Waura people, led by Chief and Pajé (shaman) Eleukah and his wife Kapi, who is also a powerful shaman. We met a little over two decades ago, and since then, together,…
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